The Observer profile + Newspapers | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/series/observer-profile+media/newspapers
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François Hollande: what became of dull Mr Normal? | the Observer profilehttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/jan/18/francois-hollande-first-lady-france-affair
Though France's first lady is in 'deep despair', the rest of the population seems to care less about his affair, more about his lack of dignity. And his annoyance at the coverage appears to have emboldened him<p>A few hours before François Hollande's press conference last Tuesday afternoon, the telephone rang. "So, will he resign?" asked an excited colleague on the other end of the phone in London. It was not a joke, but this side of the Channel it seemed a funny question.</p><p>What to say?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/jan/18/francois-hollande-first-lady-france-affair">Continue reading...</a>François HollandeUK newsValérie TrierweilerWorld newsFranceEuropeNewspapersNewspapers & magazinesMediaSat, 18 Jan 2014 20:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/jan/18/francois-hollande-first-lady-france-affairPhotograph: Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty ImagesPerhaps the most damaging aspect of the allegations is the question of whether the trysts have been funded out of the public purse. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty ImagesPerhaps the most damaging aspect of the allegations is the question of whether the trysts have been funded out of the public purse. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesKim Willsher2014-01-18T20:30:00ZJames Murdoch: Will the crown remain beyond his grasp? | profilehttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/nov/06/james-murdoch-profile
A relative newcomer to the title of News Corp successor, his performance at this week's select committee hearing on phone hacking will shape not only his own destiny, but that of the dynasty founded by his father, Rupert.<p>When he was a teenager, James Murdoch and his older brother, Lachlan, used to hang from the rafters of their father's house in Aspen, Colorado, and challenge one another to pull-up competitions. One former Murdoch executive who attended a retreat at the holiday home recalls seeing red stains on the woodwork and being told by their mother Anna – Rupert Murdoch's second wife – that the boys were so pig-headed they would compete until their hands bled. "James usually won," he adds.</p><p>Two decades later, he also looked set to triumph over Lachlan in the race to become their father's successor at News Corp. But now his grip on that prize is starting to slip. When James Murdoch returns to Parliament to face questions from MPs investigating the phone-hacking affair, he will be fighting to repair his reputation and that of the company his father founded. He will also be shaping his destiny and determining the fortunes of a dynasty. Should he fail to convince, the chances of James succeeding Rupert at the helm of the world's most powerful media conglomerate will be remote. Succeed, on the other hand, and the hereditary principle may yet hold at News Corp.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/nov/06/james-murdoch-profile">Continue reading...</a>Rupert MurdochPhone hackingNewspapers & magazinesNational newspapersUK newsNewspapersJames MurdochLachlan MurdochMediaPress intrusionSun, 06 Nov 2011 00:04:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/nov/06/james-murdoch-profilePhotograph: Sang Tan/APJames Murdoch Photograph: Sang Tan/APPhotograph: Sang Tan/APJames Murdoch Photograph: Sang Tan/APJames Robinson2011-11-06T00:04:00ZPaul Dacre: a headline act making the news | profilehttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/oct/16/observer-profile-paul-dacre-daily-mail
The editor of the Daily Mail, a champion of free speech, surprised the Leveson inquiry with a equally fervent call for more regulation. Both loathed and admired, he is a man of contradictions<p>Think opera. Think Rossini and sometimes Jerry Springer. Think of the series of seminars building up to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/leveson-inquiry" title="">Leveson</a>: the inquiry (into press regulation after the hackings) as overtures. Who's played the best tunes so far? Here's Alan Rusbridger of the <em>Guardian </em>with an eloquent defence of essential liberties. Here's Kelvin MacKenzie (ex-<em>Sun</em>) doing his cheeky chappie act (which may net him a knighthood before he's 84). But if you want action, then here's Paul Dacre. The passionate, and passionately feared, editor of the <em>Daily Mail</em> isn't waiting for a fat lady to turn up and clear her throat: he's singing basso profundo right from the start.</p><p>A corrections column on <em>Mail</em> page two? Lay representatives on the editors' code committee he himself chairs? And, most staggering of all, an "Ombudsman" figure – "possibly a retired judge or civil servant" – who would have "the power… to investigate potential press industry scandals, summon editors to give evidence" and, "in cases of extreme malfeasance, to impose fines". Dacre offered them all.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/oct/16/observer-profile-paul-dacre-daily-mail">Continue reading...</a>Paul DacreDaily MailLeveson inquiryNewspapers & magazinesNational newspapersPress freedomMediaNewspapersSat, 15 Oct 2011 23:08:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/oct/16/observer-profile-paul-dacre-daily-mailPhotograph: Ben Birchall/PA Wire/PA PhotosDaily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre and chairman of the Editors' Code Committee, speaks at the Society of Editors conference aboard the SS Great Britain, Bristol. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Wire/PA PhotosPhotograph: Ben Birchall/PA Wire/PA PhotosDaily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre and chairman of the Editors' Code Committee, speaks at the Society of Editors conference aboard the SS Great Britain, Bristol. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Wire/PA PhotosPeter Preston2011-10-15T23:08:00ZThe Observer profile: Rupert Murdoch | James Robinsonhttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2009/aug/09/rupert-murdoch-profile-james-robinson
Rupert Murdoch is often cast as the villain of the newspaper trade, but having revitalised the Wall Street Journal and with his radical plans to charge for access to online papers, he could be the unlikely saviour of the beleaguered industry<br /><p>Rupert Murdoch is the wizard of Oz. The 78-year-old has spent a lifetime building the world's most powerful media group, transforming a single antipodean newspaper into an empire that transcends national boundaries. Like his literary equivalent, his power is real, and prime ministers and presidents often seem mesmerised by its potency. But while his newspapers and television holdings give him undoubted influence, his status is magnified many times by the Murdoch myth. He has been a figure on the world stage for so long that his reputation alone is sometimes enough to inhibit the actions of others, whether in the Square Mile, Whitehall or Washington. His views on Europe or on the free market are familiar enough to policy-makers and opinion-formers, so he sometimes finds himself in the happy position of receiving favours without even having to ask for them.</p><p>It is a unique arrangement which Murdoch skilfully exploits, but it depends in large part on his continued ability to keep on controlling the news and to make huge amounts of money in the process. Last week, for perhaps the first time, Murdoch came close to admitting that he may not be able to continue doing so unless he radically transforms his business and in the process revolutionises the industry that has made him so powerful.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2009/aug/09/rupert-murdoch-profile-james-robinson">Continue reading...</a>MediaRupert MurdochNewspapersNews CorporationThe SunSat, 08 Aug 2009 23:13:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2009/aug/09/rupert-murdoch-profile-james-robinsonJames Robinson2009-08-08T23:13:00ZThe Observer Profile: Rebekah Wade - Red-top stunner plays a blinderhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/12/observer-profile-rebekah-wade
Never one to back down from a challenge, the Sun editor faces her biggest test yet - taking the helm of News International amid allegations of phone-tapping involving the News of the World, which she once edited<p>Say what you like about Sun editor Rebekah Wade (and many people do), but she cannot be accused of lacking front. On Wednesday night, Wade, 41, who will become chief executive of the paper's parent company News International in September, had just read revelations that may yet provoke one of the biggest crises of her glittering career. The Guardian disclosed that the company had secretly paid £1m to several prominent figures, including PFA chairman Gordon Taylor, who had been victims of a phone-tapping sting at the News of the World, the paper she edited before her boss Rupert Murdoch handed her the Sun job in 2003.</p><p>If Wade was worried, however, guests at the Victoria &amp; Albert museum, where publisher HarperCollins, also part of the Murdoch empire, was throwing its annual summer party, could not discern it. "She was ebullient," said one attendee, who watched Wade power-network her way around the atrium of the museum, deftly steering her fun-loving husband Charlie Brooks, whom she married last month, away from inquiring journalists. "You would not dream that there had been a crisis going on two hours earlier."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/12/observer-profile-rebekah-wade">Continue reading...</a>Rebekah BrooksNews UKThe SunNews of the WorldRupert MurdochAndy CoulsonMediaNewspapersSat, 11 Jul 2009 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/12/observer-profile-rebekah-wadeJames Robinson2009-07-11T23:01:00Z